Mourinho: “My players were fantastic”

Jose Mourinho was full of praise for his team after they defeated Barcelona 3-1 in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals.

“It’s not easy to win against Barcelona, it’s not easy to score against them, it’s not easy to defend against them, but we did all of this,” he said. “We won and deserved to win.

However, we are still far from the final. There is a still a match to go in Barcelona against a super-quality team and a club which is a tough club: we have to be careful. And then I saw some things in the tunnel that already make me think what awaits me next week… What I saw was the Barcelona players who were angry with the referees, and it should be said that their memory is very short because I can’t forget when ‘my’ Chelsea players cried last year over Ovrebo’s refereeing in the match against Barcelona, whereas this evening they weren’t capable of saying that they lost against a team that deserved to win. Instead, the Inter players deserve many compliments tonight.

“We played very well. It’s a pity about the goal we let in – a goal from their first shot on goal. It’s a real shame but we responded. The team did very well. There are ninety minutes to go and anything can happen, but in any case we have won our sixth consecutive match and we have gone from a small team in the Champions League to a team that now knows how to win in Europe.

“We are a group, we are united, we have a dream and ideas to follow this dream. We have two possibilities after the match in Barcelona: go to Madrid or come home, but in any case we will come home with our heads held very high. But I repeat, Madrid is still far away…”